MA S TER 

NEGA  TIVE 

NO.  93-81213-16 


MICROFILMED  1993 
COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES/NEW  YORK 


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AUTHOR: 


TITLE: 


THE  CLAIMS  OF  GREEK 


PLACE: 


SYRACUSE,  N.Y 


DA  TE : 


1895 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 
PRESERVATION  DEPARTMENT 


Master  Negative  # 


BIBLIOGRAPHIC  MICROFORM  TARGET 


Restrictions  on  Use: 


Original  Material  as  Filmed  -  Existing  Bibliographic  Record 


No.  2     of  a  volv.mo  of  paisphlets. 


177^Vol^ 


TECHNICAL  MICROFORM  DATA 


FILM     SIZE: K^j^j^      _  REDUCTION     RATIO: 

IMAGE  PLACEMENT:    lA  d^  IB     IIB 

DATE     FILMED:         5-~-?> ->3         _     INITIALS., 


//^ 


HLMEDBY:    RESEARCH  PUBLICATIONS.  INC  WOODBRIDGE.  CT 


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MFINUFPCTURED   TO   fillM   STONDfiRDS 
BY  fiPPLIED  IMfiGE,    INC. 


VV 


No.  3. 

THE 


CLAIMS  OF  GREEK 


BY 


PROFESSOR  LEES 


t     •     ^ 


UNIVERSITY  OF  NEBRASKA 


SYRACUSE,  N.  Y. 
0.  W.  BARDEEN,   PUBLISHER 

1895 


Copyright,  1895,  by  C.  W.  Bardkkn 


THE  CLAIMS  OF  GEEEK 


This  is  no  new  question  that  is  brought  before  us  for  discussion. 
The  friends  of  the  humanities  have  waged  many  a  battle  against 
this  foe,  for  he  is  no  warrior  of  tender  years.  Among  the  Greeks 
of  old  we  find  the  rivalry  between  music  and  gymnastics,  between 
the  culture  gained  under  the  superintendence  of  the  Muses  and 
the  physical  training  of  the  body  exclusively.  One  side  was  in 
favor  of  producing  Spartans — fighters  ;  the  other  side,  Athenians 
— thinkers.  At  Rome  we  find  Cicero  raising  his  voice — and  he 
could  raise  it — against  the  enemies  of  philosophy  and  letters.  To- 
day the  same  question  has  been  raised,  the  same  contest  renewed, 
under  somewhat  different  circumstances.  It  is  no  longer  gymnas- 
tics versus  the  cultivation  of  the  Muses,  as  in  Greece  ;  nor  physical 
prowess  opposed  to  philosophy  and  letters,  as  at  Rome  ;  but  now  it 
is  applied  science  and  technical  training  versus  liberal  culture  and 
sound  education.  If  we  examine  the  question  carefully  we  shall 
find  that  it  is  a  struggle  between  the  champions  of  mind  and  those 
of  matter  ;  between  the  study  of  soul  and  that  of  soil.  How  often, 
to  the  shame  of  both  contestants,  has  the  struggle  became  positive- 
ly degrading  !  And  what  has  been  going  on  during  this  contest  ? 
That  delicate  thing — that  marvellous  thing — the  young  human 
mind,  has  been  dragged  here,  pulled  there,  by  these  contestants 
who  call  themselves  educators,  as  if  they  were  so  many  starving 
dogs  and  this  human  mind  a  bone.  It  is  to  our  kind  old  teacher 
that  we  turn  again,  as  we  must  so  often  do,  to  settle  for  us  this  worse 
than  school-boy  quarrel.  It  is  to  Athens,  "  the  source  of  art  and . 
cultured  thought,''  the  teacher  of  her  myriad  youths  to-day  in 
every  clime,  that  we  appeal  in  cur  dispute.  Athens  in  her  golden 
days  trained  her  native  youths,  as  few  since  then  have  been  trained, 
by  judiciously  combining  the  studies  of  the  Muses — the  culture  of 
the  mind — with  the  health-giving  and  vigor-renewing  gymnastics — 
the  training  of  the  body.  Let  us  then  take  home  to  our  hearts 
this  lesson  of  our  teacher.  Let  us  not  hereafter,  each  from  his 
pwn  separate  booth,  be  crying  out  our  wares,  to  the  distraction 

(3) 


4  THE  CLAIMS  OF  GREEK 

of  every  innocent  youth  wlio  may  approach  ;  but  let  us  join  in 
erecting  a  new  temple  of  learning  where  the  young  votary  may 
enter,  worship,  and  pass  forth  an  educated  man.  It  was  the  apos- 
tate emperor  Julian  who  excluded  the  classic  writers  from  the 
christian  schools  that  he  might  exclude  higher  learning  and  influ- 
ence from  their  midst.  We  must  not  imitate  him  ;  for,  if  we  do, 
we  may  be  compelled  to  cry  out  at  last,  as  he  did  :  '*  Thou  hast  de- 
stroyed me,  0  Mithras  ! "  Let  us  come  to  that  mutual  under- 
standing which  the  eminent  scientist  Tyndall  longed  for  when  he 
said  :  "  Is  there  no  mind  in  England  large  enough  to  see  the  value 
of  both  classics  and  science  and  to  secure  for  each  fair  play  ?  Let 
us  unsphere  the  spirit  of  Plato,  listen  to  the  noble  music  of  the 
past,  and  still  honor  the  genius  of  our  own  time.''  Surely  the 
mind  that  would  say  him  nay  is  narrow  and  blighted,  and  not 
one  that  is  "  full-orbed ''  by  the  study  of  the  classics  and  rounded 
off  by  what  our  German  brethren  call  the  "  science  of  antiquity  '\ 
It  has  not  drunk  from  that  living  spring  which  pre-eminently  is 
called  liberal  education. 

What  is  meant  by  education  ?  Unfortunately  the  Pythian  ora- 
cle has  not  yet  given  us  an  answer  with  which  every  one  is  satis- 
fied. To  this  riddle  no  profound  Oedipus  has  ventured  an  answer 
to  which  all  agree.  Why  is  this  ?  It  is  because  we  do  not  distin- 
guish sharply  between  education  and  instruction.  Education  is 
the  natural  and  healthy  development  of  man's  God-given  powers, 
but  instruction  furnishes  only  the  means  and  mechanical  appli- 
ances. The  instructed  man  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  edu- 
cated man,  as  is  so  often  done  at  the  present  time.  The  champi- 
ons of  short-cuts,  modern  subjects  wholly,  narrow  specialization, 
lightning  express  courses,  confuse  the  instructed  man  with  the 
educated  man.  The  mere  acquisition  of  facts  is  confounded  by 
them  with  the  " plastic  process  of  assimilation"  of  facts,  which 
alone  is  true  education.  Dr.  Bernard  once  said  :  "The  object  of 
education  is  to  form  and  not  to  inform  the  mind."  In  such  a 
'  great  work  as  this,  time  is  an  essential  element  and  "  short  cuts  " 
are  impossible.  A  college  education — and  this  should  mean  a  lib- 
erel  education — should  awaken,  arouse,  exercise,  develop  all  the 
intellectual  faculties  of  the  student.  It  should  make  the  student 
think  and  lead  him  to  aspire.  The  Spartans  frowned  on  all  exer- 
cises that  did  not  point  directly  to  efficiency  in  battle.  Contrast 
their  course  of  instruction  with  that  of  the  Athenians  and  behold 
the  results  as  marked  by  the  number  of  milestones  passed  by  each 
of  the  two  cities  in  the  world's  march  of  progress.     The  Spartans 


f 


I 


»    « 


V.       * 


THE  CLAIMS  OF  QBBEK  » 

were   « instructed"  in  the  "practical"  school;  the  Athenians 
were  "  educated  "  in  the  school  of  liberal  culture.     In  the  clear 
licrht  of  history  we  cannot  hesitate  for  a  moment  in  our  choice  of 
the  two  nations  and  their  methods  ;  yet  in  weakness  of  judgment 
and  short-sighted  vision  so  many  of  to-day  follow  the  example  of 
the  Spartans  and  frown  on  all  studies  that  do  not  prepare  directly 
for  the  so-called   "  work  of  life  ".     But  what,  may  we  ask,  is  the 
"  work  of  life  "  ?    This  is  the  great  question.     Did  the  Spartans 
know  what  is  the  "  work  of  life  "  ?    If  they  did  then  man  is  but 
a  machine-be  that  a  Gatling  gun  or  a  minute.     The  weakness  of 
the  Spartans  is  the  weakness  of  many  modern  men  and  institu- 
tutions.     There  is  too  intense  a  desire  for  material  well-being  and 
self-advancement,  cost  what  it  may  to  others,  which  is  dwarfing 
and  narrowing  the  minds  of  many.     No  subject  is  worthy  of  study, 
in  their  opinion,  if  they  cannot  read  the  sordid  dollar  sign  between 
the  lines.     The  goddess  of  liberty  is  their  ideal,  but  she  must  be 
stamped  upon  the  precious  metal.     It  is  manifestly  our  duty  to 
counteract  such  tendencies,  and  to  prove  to  those  who  come  to 
our  halls  of  learning  that  there  is  a  "  work  of  life"  far  higher  and 
nobler  than  merely  making  ourselves  comfortable  and  raising  our- 
selves a  notch  or  two  in  the  social  scale.     We  must  present  to  them 
the  high  ideal  of  the  Greek  writer  who  says  "  The  best  fruit  of  life 
is  an  honest  heart  and  labor  for  the  good  of  fellow-man."    When 
we  choose  studies  which  we  think  will  prepare  us  for  the  "  work 
of  life  "  let  us  first  be  sure  that  we  have  the  right  idea  of  our 
"work  of  life". 

We  have  heard  so  much  about  letting  the  classics  go.  But  that 
is  not  the  question.  We  ought  rather  to  ask.  Will  they  let  us  go  ? 
We  cannot  tear  ourselves  from  Greece  and  Rome  if  we  wish.  The 
present  strikes  its  roots  deep  into  the  soil  of  the  past  and  draws  its 
nourishment  therefrom.  We  could  not  have  a  family  quarrel  and 
separate  from  our  "loftier  brothers  of  antiquity  "if  we  would. 
The  best  minds  of  to-day,  they  who  are  really  competent  to  judge 
of  the  question,  are  becoming  more  and  more  united  in  saying, 
"  We  would  not  if  we  could."  The  teachers  in  the  schools  of  the 
east  tell  us  that  statistics  prove  the  study  of  Greek  is  on  the  in- 
crease ;  that  a  greater  number  take  it  every  year.  There  they  are 
recognizing  as  never  before  the  paramount  importance  of  classics 
as  the  foundation  for  any  line  of  intellectual  activity.  The  classic 
languages,  literatures,  histories,  are  the  life  of  our  life ;  the  very 
blood  of  our  blood.  Athens  is  far  more  to  us  than  Theseus  ever 
was  to  her,    I^om^  means  far  more  iq  us  than  Romulus  did  t^  tfee 


6  THE  CLAIMS  OF  GREEK 

once  proud  mistress  of  the  world.     And  yet  they  would  not  give 
up  their  Theseus  or  their  Romulus,  because  that  would  destroy  the 
unity  of  their  national  life.     Shall  we  ruthlessly  endeavor  to  spoil 
the  unity  of  our  intellectual  life  by  saying  ^' we  will  discard  the 
classics  "  ?    Not  until  we  can  forcibly  separate  the  present  for  the 
past  is  it  possible  to  draw  out  of  our  intellectual  life  the  fibres  woven 
into  it  by  the  ''  loom  of  time  '^     This  it  is  that  makes  the  classics 
an  indispensable  necessity  in  all  of  our  higher  education.     We  read 
in  the  Marchen  of  Goethe  how  the  will-o'-the-wisps  "  with  their 
pointed  tongues  licked  the  gold  veins  out  of  the  giant  figure,  and 
at  last,  when  the  smallest  filaments  were  eaten  out,  the  image  fell." 
It  requires  no  great  effort  to  see  that  a  similar  fate  would  soon 
overtake  our  higher  education  if  the  golden  threads  of  the  classics 
were  severed.     Mr.  John  Kennedy,  superintendent  of  schools  of 
Batavia,  N.  Y.,  is  no  idle  dreamer  or  visionary  when  he  says  "  If 
Greek  goes  the  college  goes.''    The  Greeks  have  not  only  pointed 
out  the  course  for  us  but  they  have  dug  the  channels  of  our  thought 
and  intellectual  activity.     We  follow  Greek  lines  in  all  of  our  litera- 
ture.    Our  architecture  is  based  on  Greek  models.     We  attempt  to 
get  as  near  to  Greece  as  we  can.     Why  was  the  "  White  City  "  such 
a  splendid  success  last  year  ?    Because  Phidias  and  Praxiteles  were 
the  real  architects  who  directed  the  work  and  imparted  some  of 
their  genius  to  our  modern  men.     Our  political  life  takes  us  back 
at  every  turn  to  Greece.     Our  very  language  is  becoming  more  and 
more  Greek  every  day  and  it  will  continue  to  do  so.     They  whose 
vision  is  so  narrow,  whose  education  is  so  stunted,  that  they  have 
no  adequate  appreciation  of  the  importance  of  these  facts  to  the 
true  student,  have  no  right  to  speak  of  the  inutility  of  Greek  or  of 
dropping  Greek  from  the  curriculum.     Europe  did  stop  the  study 
of  Greek  once  and  what  was  the  result  ?    The  dark  ages  came, 
when  the  barbarian  groped  in  his  hovel  built  on  the  mosaics  and 
between  the  columns  of  a  great  and  past  civilization.     But  when 
the  Greeks  were  driven  out  of  Constantinople  they  went  west  and 
taught  the  language  of  their  books.     This  was  the  lamp  of  Aladdin 
that  dispelled  the  intellectual  darkness  and  gloom  of  centuries. 
These  poor  earthworms,  these  clods,  these  western  Goths,  drank  of 
the  nectar  from  the  Pierian  spring  and  lo  1  they  became  gods— in- 
tellectual gods.     They  claimed  their  birthright  as  ''  heirs  of  all  the 
ages "  and  came  into  possession  of  their  inheritance.     The  world 
has  learned  too  well  its  bitter  lesson  to  deliberately  knock  out  the 
very  keystone  from  the  arch  that  spans  its  portal  of  learning. 
^6  h^ve  hear4  a  great  deal  of  the  past,  not  so  much  now  a§ 


( 


w^ 


'i 


THE  CLAIMS  OF  GREEK  '    " 

formerly,  about  the  so-called  *^  dead  "  languages.     They  who  used 
that  term  are  careful  not  to  modify  it  as  it  should  be.     They  are 
"  dead  "  to  those  who  cannot  or  will  not  read  them,  but  not  dead 
to  those  who  have  entered  into  the  spirit  of  classical  masterpieces. 
If  you  call  them  ''  dead  "  then  you  must  call  Chaucer  dead,  Milton 
dead,  Browning  dead,  for  you  have  to  read  their  writings  now  to 
know  the  poet'd  soul.     Dr.  W.  T.  Harris,  United  States  Commis- 
sioner of  Education,  whose  authority  as  a  leader  in  education  can- 
not be  questioned,  says  :  "  In  the  light  of  the  doctrine  of  evolution 
which  is  beginning  to  prevail  in  natural  science,  and  will  soon  pre- 
vail in  all  education,  Greek  and  Latin  are  not  dead  languages." 
No  language  is  dead  that  conveys  to  us  thoughts  that  are  held  as 
a  noble  heritage  of  the  past  which  men  will  not  suffer  to  be  lost. 
Such  a  language  is  crystallized  into  a  life  that  is  incapable  of  death. 
It  is  impossible  to  apply  the  term  " dead"  to  Greek,  for  that  has 
been  a  living  spoken  language,  with  an  unbroken  continuity,  for 
over  three  thousand  years.     There  is  no  greater  change  in  the 
Greek  language  of  Demosthenes  and  Plato  compared  with  that  of 
to-day  than  there  is  in  the  language  of  Chaucer  compared  with 
that  of  our  own  time.     "  Dead  "  is  nothing  but  a  catchword. 

Another  catchword  that  has  done  much  mischief  is  the  term 
" compulsory  ".     They  who  say  ''  Away  with  compulsory  Greek" 
are  very  careful  not  to  finish  their  sentence  for  that  would  destroy 
the  force  of  their  favorite  term.     "  Compulsory "  attached  to  a 
thing  gives  it  a  hateful  look.     But  if  the  writer  is  not  mistaken, 
even  our  ABC's  were  learned  by  very  many  of  us  under  some  com- 
pulsion.    The  fear  of  the  birch  has  induced  many  a  lad  to  learn  a 
lesson.     Should  the  lesson  therefore  not  have  been  given  by  the 
teacher  nor  learned  by  the  pupil  ?    In  fact  the  most  of  human  ac- 
tions are  to  a  great  extent  compulsory  in  one  form  or  another.     If 
we  should  do  nothing  that  is  in  the  least  degree  compulsory  we 
should  soon  be  in  a  far  worse  condition  than  the  companions  of 
Odysseus  after  they  had  eaten  of  the  lotus.     But  suppose  we  could 
do  away  with  ''compulsory"  Greek.     What  follows?    We  must 
substitute  compulsory  something  else, — either  compulsory  German, 
or  compulsory  French,  or  compulsory  science,  and  hence  the  term 
means  nothing. 

Over  the  entrance  of  the  temple  of  Apollo  at  Delphi  were  in- 
scribed the  words  ry^Bi6£avT6v  (know  thyself).  This  was  the 
mainspring  of  Greek  ethical  teaching.  This  is  the  true  end  of  all 
liberal  education  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  term.  Liberal  educa- 
tion however  must  be  sharply  distinguished  from  technical  educa- 


8 


TiaE   OtAIMS  OF  GKEEi 


tion.  The  former  broadens  the  man  and  puts  him  in  sympathetic 
touch  with  his  fellow  men  wherever  they  may  be  or  whenever  they 
may  have  been.  As  its  name  implies  it  make  a  free  man  of  him. 
The  latter  narrows  him  down  to  some  special  calling.  It  teaches 
him  a  trade.  It  makes  him  a  machine  whose  wheels  will  turn  if 
you  drop  the  right  piece  of  money  in  the  slot.  But  it  is  not  a  col- 
lege education.  Both  are  useful— both  are  necessary— but  they 
must  not  be  confounded  as  they  so  often  are  by  nearsighted  persons. 
The  liberal  education— the  college  education— must  precede  the 
technical,  else  you  will  find  the  machine  getting  the  better  of  the 
man.  You  must  broaden  his  vision  and  let  him  view  the  world's 
landscape  before  he  concentrates  his  fixed  gaze  upon  some  definite 
point.  I  have  known  students  who  thought  the  sum  total  of  all 
excellencies  was  bounded  on  the  north  by  South  Dakota,  on  the 
east  by  Iowa,  on  the  south  by  Kansas,  and  on  the  west  by  Colorado. 
1  have  watched  with  great  interest  the  same  students  as  their  eyes 
were  opened,  their  sympathies  enlarged,  their  judgment  broadened, 
and  that  too  during  a  three  months  trip  to  Europe.  It  is  a  similar 
influence  which  the  study  of  the  classics  exerts  upon  the  intellectual 
life  of  the  student.  The  classics  take  the  student  on  a  trip  abroad  ; 
they  lay  his  foundation  on  a  broad  and  firm  basis,  before  he  begins 
to  build  his  superstructure.  That  course  of  study  which  will  best 
enable  a  man  to  know  himself  and  his  environment  is  undoubtedly 
the  course  above  all  others  which  constitutes  a  liberal  education.  The 
broader  and  more  extended  a  man's  knowledge  of  the  past,  of  the 
thoughts  and  feelings  and  purposes  of  the  best  of  mankind,  the 
better  will  he  know  his  environment  and  his  relations  to  his  fellow 
man,  and  he  will  have  a  more  perfect  knowledge  of  himself.  We 
have  all  of  us  heard  of  the  individual  who  was  found  in  front  of  a 
fence  trying  to  lift  himself  over  by  pulling  at  his  boot-straps. 
Something  like  this  occurs  when  a  young  man  tries  to  become 
broadly  and  liberally  educated  by  pursuing  the  study  of  nothing 
but  *'  moderns  '\  He  goes  round  and  round  in  a  narrow  circle 
and  wonders  why  his  vision  is  so  narrow,  why  the  landscape  has 
so  often  the  same  appearance,  why  he  never  seems  to  approach 
nearer  his  ideal  of  a  really  educated  man.  In  all  higher  education 
we  stand — we  must  stand — upon  the  shoulders  of  the  ancients. 
The  firmer  and  more  erect  we  take  that  stand  the  wider  and  more 
comprehensive  will  be  our  view  of  life  and  of  the  work  of  life. 

It  has  never  been  questioned  by  those  who  are  competent  to 
judge  that  Greek  as  an  instrument  of  intellectual  and  linguistic 
training  stands  unequalled  among  our  cognate  languages.     Lin- 


THE  CLAIMS  OF  GREEK 


9 


guistic  training  is  justly  considered  a  prime  requisite  of  sound 
education.  The  study  of  the  Greek  language,  because  it  is  univer- 
sally acknowledged  to  be  the  most  perfect  language  that  we  have, 
is  well  fitted  to  occupy  a  crowning  position  in  an  education  that 
has  for  its  aim  the  attainment  of  liberal  culture.  If  there  is  any- 
thing in  which  the  Greek  language  stands  pre-eminent  it  is  in 
exactness  of  thought  and  perfect  expression.  The  audience  that 
would  hiss  an  actor  off  the  stage  if  a  word  was  mispronounced  ;  the 
assembly  so  critical  that  their  leading  orator  would  take  months  in 
preparing  his  speech :  these  men  would  have  nothing  short  of  per- 
fection. A  language  that  has  words  to  mark  the  inflection  of  the 
voice,  to  denote  the  curl  of  the  scornful  lip ;  that  has  particles 
which  open  to  the  student's  mind  a  new  world  of  thought  and 
meaning ;  that  has  unmatched  facility  of  combination  and  an 
infinite  grace,  must  surely  test  the  student  to  the  utmost  and  lead 
him  on  in  his  efforts  to  master  and  translate  it  into  his  mother 
tongue.  In  this  study  the  student's  memory  is  strengthened,  his 
English  vocabulary  enriched,  his  apprehension  stimulated,  his 
judgment  ripened ;  and,  what  is  of  so  much  importance  to-day  with 
so  many  undigested  scraps  of  knowledge,  he  acquires  the  habit  of 
close  and  diligent  application.  The  fond  parent  of  a  classical 
student  in  the  University  of  Nebraska  told  me  last  year  that  when 
his  son  studied  his  Greek  lesson  he  locked  himself  in  his  room  and 
gave  strict  orders  not  to  be  molested  for  two  hours.  That  is  as 
great  a  defence  of  Greek  as  I  can  make.  Those  two  hours  of  close 
and  intense  application  each  day  developed  more  brain  and  think- 
ing power  in  that  young  man  than  three  or  four  times  as  much 
time  spent  in  reading  as  students  so  often  do,  when  they  combine 
a  page  of  the  author  with  the  equivalent  of  several  pages  in  irrel- 
evant talk  with  a  room-mate  or  friend. 

It  is  not  along  the  line  of  intellectual  training  or  mental  gym- 
nastics that  the  opponents  of  Greek  dare  assail  its  battlements. 
They  attack  it  on  the  so-called  "useful "  side.  They  say  that  the 
student  can  get  "about "  or  *' nearly"  as  good  training  in  other 
lines  besides  securing  a  certain  amount  of  "  useful "  knowledge 
which  is  not  to  be  gained  from  the  study  of  Greek.  This  latter 
point  is  sometimes  granted  them  by  certain  individuals,  but  we  do 
not  propose  to  make  any  such  cowardly  surrender  nor  even  run  up 
the  white  flag  of  truce.  We  propose  to  meet  them  on  the  field  of 
their  own  choice. 

Greek  claims  a  "  useful "  and  very  necessary  place  in  any  scheme 
of  liberal  education  which  considers  the  study  of  language,  litera- 


10 


THE  CLAIMS  OF  GREEK 


ture,  and  history  of  prime  importance.  It  is  in  the  study  of  Greek 
that  we  learn  how  men  first  began  systematic  thinking.  In  its 
literature  we  can  see  how  all  the  forms  of  modern  literatures  were 
gradually  unfolded  from  the  embryo  state  of  that  of  full  maturity, 
from  crude  beginnings  to  polished  perfection.  In  literature  we 
have  not  become  what  we  are  through  ourselves.  We  are  the  off- 
spring of  the  Greeks.  As  Dr.  Harris  says,  "  We  have  borrowed 
their  civilization  and  their  literature.''  The  Greek  literature  is 
the  fountain  head  of  epic,  lyric,  and  dramatic  poetry ;  it  is  the 
norm  of  prose  writings,  of  history,  oratory,  philosophy.  It  is  in 
the  study  of  this  language  and  literature  that  we  can  see  how  a 
people  with  no  literature,  no  models,  succeed  in  developing  and 
bringing  to  a  perfection  that  has  never  been  surpassed,  rarely  if 
ever  equalled,  all  the  various  branches  of  literature  as  we  of  to- 
day know  them.  It  is  this  fact  that  secured  for  the  Greek  the 
position  of  teacher  of  Bome  and  schoolmaster  of  modern  Europe. 
The  nation  of  to-day  that  is  acknowledged  by  all  to  be  the  facile 
princeps  in  higher  university  education  is  Germany.  She  has 
built  her  magnificent  temple  of  learning  upon  Greek  foundation. 
It  is  not  strange  that  the  language  and  literature  of  Greece  should 
so  early  reach  perfection  and  yield  such  rich  results,  for  nature 
often  brings  forth  her  richest  harvest  from  a  virgin  soil.  The 
Greeks  lived,  most  fortunately  for  them,  in  all  the  freshness  of 
life's  morning  when  the  mists  had  risen  and  the  sky  was  clear. 
Consequently  we  find  in  their  writings  a  certain  vividness,  frank- 
ness, earnestness,  not  shared  by  other  literatures,  which  appeals 
with  special  force  to  the  young  mind  eager  to  enter  upon  its  intel- 
lectual life.  The  Greek  student  finds  the  earliest  literature  pos- 
sessing all  the  simplicity  of  that  early  age,  the  freshness  of  the 
childhood  of  the  world.  He  finds  that  Homer  is  spontaneous,  di- 
rect, noble,  and  yet  plain  withal  ;  that  he  can  put  himself  with 
equal  ease  in  touch  with  every  phase  and  changing  mood  of  human 
life,  and  yet  not  lose  a  particle  of  that  noble  dignity  which  per- 
vades the  whole.  But  how  is  it  with  the  Latin  and  English  epics  ? 
Instead  of  being  spontaneous,  they  are  frequently  learnedly  allu- 
sive and  almost  one-half  is  lost  if  the  reader  has  not  a  knowledge 
of  the  Homeric  poems  which  both  Vergil  and  Milton  studied  care- 
fully. If  nothing  else  would  repay  us  for  a  careful  and  painstak- 
ing study  of  Greek  surely  one  masterpiece  of  the  Athenian  drama- 
tists contains  sufficient  reward.  It  has  been  well  said  that  a  student 
who  has  advanced  far  enough  in  his  study  of  Greek — the  sopho- 
more year  in  the  University  of  Nebraska — to  read  intelligently  one 


THE   CLAIMS  OF  GREEK 


11 


of  the  masterpieces  of  Aischylos  or  Sophokles  has  gained  a  clearer 
knowledge  of  the  ancient  world,  has  entered  more  fully  into  its 
spirit,  can  better  understand  the  origin  and  development  of  the 
drama,  than  he  could  by  reading  a  dozen  volumes  about  the 
ancients.  If  a  student  is  ever  to  get  a  clear,  definite  knowledge  of 
literary  forms  and  be  able  to  make  an  intelligent  study  of  English  • 
and  modern  literature  from  a  scientific  standpoint  he  must  begin 
with  Greek.  Blot  out  all  references  to  Greek  originals  and  then 
try  to  solve  the  hopeless  riddles  of  our  literature.  Scrupulously 
lay  aside  all  the  records  of  Greek  antiquity  and  see  how  blurred 
and  dull  become  the  best  pages  of  our  poets.  The  very  best  con- 
temporary English  poetry  is  perfectly  saturated  with  Greek.  As 
Greek  is  of  paramount  importance  in  the  study  of  English  litera- 
ture so  it  is  equally  important  in  the  study  of  English  as  written 
and  spoken.  Professor  Childs,  formerly  professor  of  English  in 
Harvard,  used  to  say  :  "  If  you  want  students  to  write  good  Eng- 
lish, let  them  study  Greek."  Kufus  Choate,  the  eminent  lawyer 
and  pleader,  was  accustomed  to  translate  each  day  a  passage  of 
Greek  into  the  best  English  he  could  command,  that  he  might  be- 
come a  more  thorough  master  of  his  native  tongue,  and  gain  a 
more  accurate  knowledge  of  those  delicate  turns  and  shades  of  ex- 
pression on  which  in  public  speaking  so  much  depends. 

And  what  are  we  to  say  of  the  value  of  the  Greek  language  in 
the  study  of  Greek  history  when  our  best  professors  of  history  tell 
their  students  that  they  do  not  realize  how  much  they  lose  if  they  , 
do  not  utilize  their  opportunities  and  become  able  to  handle  the 
original  text.     The  Persian  war — a  war  that  means  more  to  us  than 
all  the  wars  of  antiquity,  for  there  is  not  a  fibre  of  our  western 
civilization  that  is  not  reddened  by  the  blood  that  was  shed  at 
Marathon  and  Salamis — the  Persian  war  must  be  studied  not  only 
in  the  easy  and  graceful  Ionic  of  Herodotos  but  also  in  the  mas- 
sive Doric  odes  of  Aischylos.     He  who  would  understand  the  Pel- 
opennesian  war  and  its  far-reaching  results  must  read  the  words 
not  only  of  the  terse,  cool,  calculating  Thukydides  and  the  cosmo- 
politan Xenophon,  but  he  must  also  read  him  whom  Browning  calls 
"  our  Euripides  the  human  ",  as  well  as  turn  the  pages  of  the  prince 
of   all    comedians — Aristophanes.      Translations  will  not   suflBce 
for  a  critical  and  scientific  study  of  history.     Translations  are  al- 
ways inadequate.     History  demands  exactness,  but  translations  are 
necessarily  inexact  and  reflect  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  the  pecul- 
iar views  of  the  translator.     We  maintain  that  one  cannot  get  an 
adequate  appreciatiou  of  that  wonderful  Greek  world  without  ^ 


12 


THE  CLAIMS  OF  GREEK 


THE  CLAIMS  OF  GREEK 


13 


knowledge  of  its  language  and  literature  ;  and,  furthermore,  while 
one  is  broadening  his  mind  and  strengthening  his  intellectual  pow- 
ers by  putting  himself  in  sympathetic  touch  with  his  kinsmen 
across  the  ocean  of  centuries  he  is  '*  laying  in  a  stock  of  wise 
thought  and  observation "  and  undergoing  a  silent  yet  none  the 
less  potent  influence  of  perfected  and  polished  literary  productions. 
Why  do  our  best  scientists  take  a  firm  stand  in  defence  of  classical 
education  ?  Why  do  so  many  of  them  urge  upon  their  students 
the  necessity  and  the  utility  of  the  study  of  Greek  ?  Turn  the 
pages  of  any  text-book  of  Botany,  Chemistry,  Geology,  or  Zoology 
and  even  a  hasty  glance  will  give  us  an  answer.  It  is  because  the 
study  of  Greek  enables  the  student  of  science  to  grasp  firmly  the 
exact  meaning  of  so  many  modern  terms  of  science  and  art.  The 
scientist  cannot  get  along  without  Greek  if  he  would  not  meet  with 
difficulties  at  every  turn  in  word-forms,  word-compounds,  old  and 
new  derivatives,  scientific  terminology  in  general.  How  many 
students,  whose  linguistic  knowledge  is  limited  to  "  moderns  '\  know 
the  exact  meaning  of  even  such  common  terms  as  telegraph,  tele- 
phone, dynamo,  or  machine  ?  And  when  such  students  meet  with 
terms  like  monochlamydeous,  dicotyledon,  or  even  our  Nebraskan 
daimonelix,  they  stand  aghast  in  utter  bewilderment.  The  techni- 
cal signification  of  such  terms  becomes  clear  to  the  student  of  Greek, 
for  he  grasps  the  meaning  of  their  component  parts.  They  convey 
to  his  mind  a  certain  vividness  of  import  which  cannot  be  con- 
veyed to  the  student  who  is  ignorant  of  Greek.  The  classical  stu- 
dent stands  face  to  face  with  the  original  of  these  technical  scien- 
tific terms,  but  his  unfortunate  companion  who  has  no  Greek  must 
look  at  them  through  a  colored  or  almost  opaque  medium.  We 
cannot  rid  our  language  of  these  technical  terms  that  are  of  Greek 
origin.  There  are  thousands  of  them.  They  have  come  to  stay. 
They  are  bringing  hundreds  of  immigrants  to  our  language-shores 
every  year.  By  the  very  nature  of  the  Greek  language,  its  plastic 
character,  its  unmatched  facility  for  making  new  compounds,  it 
has  become  the  greatest  store-house  from  which  we  enrich  our  own 
language.  If  a  student  would  know  and  understand  what  think- 
ing people  are  talking  about  he  must  study  the  language  from 
which  these  terms  are  derived.  But  there  is  also  a  wider  field  of 
ilutity  as  we  pass  from  terms,  from  words,  to  subject  matter. 
Buffon  and  Cuvier  especially  admired  Aristotle's  History  of  Ani- 
mals, and  the  naturalist  of  the  nineteenth  century  can  still  learn 
from  him  who  is  the  "master  of  those  who  know  ".  The  physi- 
Qian  too  may  still  learn  nianjr  valuable  facts  from  him  who  first 


1 


said,  "Life  is  short  and  art  is  long'' — the  physician  of  Kos,  Hip- 
pokrates. 

In  this  intensely  critical  age  a  microscopic  examination  is  being 
made  of  almost  every  subject.  We  now  pause  and  proceed  slowly 
step  by  step  with  extreme  caution  over  the  course  where  our  pre- 
decessors ran  at  full  speed.  Even  our  Christian  religion  does  not 
escape  this  close  criticism.  Every  word  and  phrase  of  original 
Scripture  is  placed  under  the  most  rigid  examination.  To  the 
true  scholar  and  earnest  Christian  a  translation  of  the  holy  writ- 
ings is  no  longer  satisfactory.  He  wishes  to  be  able  to  read  the 
original  and  answer  for  himself  questions  that  may  arise  as  to  the 
meaning  of  this  or  that  particular  word  or  sentence.  No  transla- 
tion can  convey  the  exact  import  and  power  of  those  important 
words  of  Christ  and  his  apostles  spoken  and  written  in  the  Greek 
tongue.  Many  are  the  shades  of  thought  and  turns  of  expression 
that  have  eluded  the  translators.  It  is  often  truly  said  "  Transla- 
tions cannot  be  trusted."  They  blot  out  the  author's  characteris- 
tics.    They  may  give  the  substance,  but  they  lose  the  soul. 

The  greatest  difficulty  in  our  western  schools  and  colleges  is  the 
lack  of  competent  teachers  of  Greek.  The  subject  itself  cannot 
be  condemned  as  impracticable  or  useless,  since,  as  we  know,  it 
furnishes  the  best  means  of  mental  discipline  and  linguistic  train- 
ing, and  is  the  basis  of  a  scientific  study  of  modern  literature. 
Furthermore  it  enables  the  student  of  science  to  master  technical 
and  scientific  terms.  Let  us  meet  the  question  squarely.  We 
deprecate  the  subject  when  there  is  no  ground  for  censure.  The 
blame  rests  rather  with  ourselves.  It  is  a  case  of  "  Nos,  nos  con- 
sules  desumus."  We  do  not  prepare  ourselves  sufficiently  to  teach 
the  subject  successfully.  In  some  respects  the  greatest  injury  to 
sound  education  is  caused  at  the  present  time  by  scrap-book  knowl- 
edge, undigested  bits  of  facts,  which  many  persuade  themselves 
constitute  sound  learning.  A  general  perusal  or  skimming  of 
many  subjects  is  too  often  considered  a  college  education.  In  the 
midst  of  so  much  hasty  and  often  imperfect  work  there  is  one 
study  which,  less  perhaps  than  any  other,  can  be  hastened  or 
merely  skimmed.  The  study  of  Greek  requires  and  demands  care 
and  exactness  on  the  part  of  both  teacher  and  pupil.  It  calls  a 
halt  in  this  rapid  march  for  general  ideas  and  superficial  knowledge 
and  says  "  Be  critical,  be  exact,  in  your  thought  and  in  your  reason- 
ing." There  are  some  things  in  education  that  come  only  by  a 
dead  pull,  and  this  is  one  of  them.  How  many  teachers  are  there 
in  Nebr^ka  who  are  prepared  tq  teac}i  Greek  to  their  students  ^ 


u 


THE  CLAIMS  OF  QREFK 


a  living  language  fairly  instinct  with  human  life,  full  of  a  vigorous 
vitality  that  can  be  imparted  to  the  student,  teeming  with  that 
deep  inner  life  which  every  educated  man  should  live  ?  I  fear 
that  too  many  prepare  their  students  in  Greek  for  college  as  one 
was  prepared,  or  rather  unprepared,  who  told  me  a  few  weeks  ago 
that  before  he  came  to  the  University  of  Nebraska  he  thought  the 
study  of  Greek  and  Latin  consisted  in  guessing  at  some  kind  of  a 
translation  by  thumbing  the  dictionary  and  noticing  what  the 
words  looked  like.  It  was  a  boy  with  such  a  preparation  who  once 
translated  the  first  line  of  the  Aeneid,  "There  was  a  man  who 
came  from  Troy  with  a  dog  in  his  arms/'  There  is  too  much  bad 
teaching  of  both  Greek  and  Latin.  No  wonder  the  student  cries 
out  in  rebellion  against  such  treatment.  Byron  has  immortalized 
such  teaching  in  his  lines — 

Then  farewell  Horace  ;  whom  I  hated  so, 
Not  for  thy  faults. 

How  often  would  the  poor  Greeks  turn  in  their  graves  with  a 
groan  if  they  could  hear  some  cold,  soulless  pedagogue  trying  to 
teach  their  literature  in  the  dry  grammatical  grind, — the  con- 
tinual nibbling  at  the  shell,  but  never  giving  the  student  a  taste 
of  the  sweet  kernel  within.  If  the  teacher  does  not  know  the  ker- 
nel is  there,  if  he  cannot  realize  that  Greek  is  a  living  literature, 
possessing  a  warm  and  responsive  soul,  then  let  him  step  down  and 
out  and  pose  no  longer  under  an  assumed  name.  If  he  cannot  see, 
feel,  and  present  to  his  pupils  the  beauty  and  charm  of  the  Greek 
language,  even  during  the  first  year  that  it  is  studied,  then  his 
teaching  is  a  curse  and  he  is  committing  a  crime — an  educational 
crime. 

To  remedy  such  defects  in  classical  work,  to  preach  the  gospel 
of  sound  education,  high  ideals,  purified  taste,  is  manifestly  the 
duty  of  the  classical  teachers  in  our  colleges  and  universities.  We 
trust  some  missionary  work  is  being  done  here  at  the  University 
of  Nebraska  to  advance  the  good  cause.  Out  of  175  students  of 
Greek  here  this  year  we  may  rightfully  expect  a  trained  band  of 
young  men  and  young  women  who  will  return  to  their  homes  after 
graduation  and  will  see  to  it  that  better  methods  and  better  results 
obtain  in  the  future. 

Meanwhile  we  have  nothing  to  fear  as  to  the  final  position  of 
Greek  in  our  schools,  academies,  colleges,  and  universities  when 
our  presidents,  our  professors,  our  educational  leaders  have  their 
children  and  relatives  take  the  classical  course  ;  when  many  of  our 
gqhogls,  wl^ose  principals  and  superintendents  thought  not  long 


THE  CLAIMS  OF   GREEK 


15 


ago  they  could  not  touch  Greek  for  ten  years,  are  now  vying  with 
each  other  as  to  which  can  secure  the  largest  Greek  classes  and  do 
the  best  work.  When  students  are  banding  together  and  formally 
asking  for  instruction  in  Greek  where  formerly  it  was  not  given, 
one  cannot  doubt  that  the  rising  generation  is  determined  to  secure 
the  benefits  and  wear  the  badge  of  a  classical  education.  They 
are  determined  to  have  that  genuine  satisfaction  which  comes  to 
every  true  student  who  feels  that  he  has  bridged  the  gulf  of  cen- 
turies and  read  intelligently  some  of  those  literary  monuments  of 
antiquity  which  the  world  has  said  shall  never  be  consigned  to 

oblivion. 
We  firmly  believe  the  best  minds  will  always  follow  the  advice  of 

Horace  : 

Vos  exemplaria  Graeca 
Nocturaa  versate  manu,  versate  diurna. 

"  Study  Greek,  study  Greek."  We  feel  assured  that  Greek  will 
still  keep  its  place  at  the  head  of  a  liberal  education  course  and 
will  continue  to  bear  the  title  of  *'  facile  princeps  ".  We  know  that 
all  along  the  line  there  is  a  decided  recoil  from  the  intense  mater- 
ialism caused  by  too  exclusive  attention  to  nothing  but  science,  and 
men  are  returning  to  character  building,  to  mind  culture,  to  the 

humanities. 

The  great  mine  of  antiquity,  of  grand  and  ennobling  ideals,  is 
by  no  means  exhausted.  There  we  still  find  a  rich  store  of  exper- 
ience ;  there  we  shall  continue  to  learn  the  lesson  of  life.  As  often 
as  we  choose  to  visit  her  shrine  the  oracle  has  a  new  lesson  to 
teach  us. 

"For  out  of  olde  feldes,  as  men  seith, 
Cometh  al  this  newe  corn  fro  yere  to  yere ; 
And  out  of  olde  bokes,  in  good  feith, 
Cometh  al  this  new  science  that  men  lere." 


•iflHwr^^^^ 


